Introduction

MSCA-COFUND programmes are European Commission initiatives that offer additional funding for new or existing regional, national and international programmes to provide an international and intersectoral dimension to research training and career development. Doctoral programmes as well as fellowship programmes for experienced researchers can be supported.

Therefore these actions are meant for organisations that fund or manage doctoral programmes or fellowship programmes for researchers.

Each COFUND proposal should have a sole participant, which could be a government ministry, regional authority, funding agency, university, research organisation, research academy or enterprise.

Once the COFUND proposal is selected to be funded the applying organisation will open up a call to select researchers to enroll its doctoral or fellowships programmes.

How to apply to COFUND-PROGRAMME positions?

Open positions from funded COFUND projects are published on EURAXESS Jobs Website. Furthermore, the beneficiaries will use their own mechanisms to disseminate the open calls (COFUND programme website, social media, etc.)

Who can apply to COFUND-PROGRAMME positions?

Support cannot be awarded to researchers who are already permanently employed by the organisation hosting them.

Experience: - For COFUND Doctoral Programmes (DP) researchers must be early-stage researchers (ESR), i.e. at the date of recruitment or the deadline of the co-funded programme’s call, be in the first four years (fulltime equivalent research experience) of their research careers and have not been awarded a doctoral degree. - For COFUND Fellowship Programmes (FP) researchers must be experienced researchers (ER), i.e. at the date of recruitment or the deadline of the co-funded programme’s call, be in possession of a doctoral degree or have at least four years of fulltime equivalent research experience.

Mobility rule: Researchers supported under this scheme shall comply with the mobility rules of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions: researchers may not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organisation for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the call deadline, or recruitment date (COFUND).

What can be funded?

The organisation must recruit each eligible researcher under an employment contract or ‘equivalent direct contract’ with full social security coverage (including sickness, parental, unemployment and invalidity benefits, pension rights, benefits in respect of accidents at work and occupational diseases) except where national legislation prohibits this possibility. When an employment contract cannot be provided, the organisation must recruit the researcher under a ‘fixed-amount fellowship’. In this case, the residence card will be halved and the beneficiary must ensure that the researcher enjoys minimum social security coverage.

Remuneration: The EU contribution must be used exclusively as contribution to the management of the programme and to the living allowance of the researchers, which is solely for the benefit of the researchers appointed under the programme and includes all compulsory deductions under national legislation. A top-up (funded through other resources including EU programmes other than Horizon 2020), to cover other cost items (such as research costs, travel, family and mobility allowances, and indirect costs) may be paid to the researchers in order to complement this contribution.

In addition to the living allowance, the beneficiary must pay a mobility allowance and for some categories of researchers, a family allowance.

i.e. the living allowance (salaries, social security contributions, taxes and other costs included in the remuneration), and the mobility allowance for the benefit of the researchers must be: -for researchers recruited under an employment contract: not lower than EUR 2 597 (for early-stage researchers) and EUR 3 675 (for experienced researchers); - for researchers recruited under a fixed-amount fellowship: not lower than EUR 1298.50 (for early-stage researchers) and EUR 1 837.50 (for experienced researchers).